Minister of Health and MLA for Red Deer-North Adriana LaGrange speaks at Red Deer Polytechnic on Friday to deliver announcement on lab service delivery. (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

By Alessia Proietti

Long wait times

Delivery of community lab services returns to Alberta Health Services

Aug 18, 2023 | 3:32 PM

Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange announced on Friday that Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) will now deliver community lab services across the province.

The Red Deer-North MLA made the announcement at Red Deer Polytechnic, stating the decision aims to improve lab testing and reduce wait times for Albertans.

The changeover takes effect Aug. 31, reversing a move made by the UCP in 2019. A full transition should be complete by the end of December.

“Albertans expect and deserve a world-class health system. This change is an important step to improve and grow lab services, and ensure Albertans have reliable and speedy access to lab testing in their communities, particularly to enable timely diagnosis and treatment. I want to thank all the health care workers who have been providing lab services, I appreciate your efforts to continue meeting the health needs of Albertans during the transition and beyond,” LaGrange said in a release.

The government states that over the past few months, delays and wait times have made accessing lab services very difficult, particularly in the Calgary and southern Alberta region. LaGrange confirmed that no complaints have come from the Red Deer area.

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While APL was formed in 2018 by Alberta Health Services, DynaLIFE was servicing Edmonton and the northern region capably, LaGrange explained. It was decided in December 2022 that all community medical laboratory services would be formally transitioned from being publicly delivered by APL, to being privately delivered by the for-profit company DynaLIFE. APL has since operated only in hospitals, urgent care centres and in rural communities where there are no additional community labs located.

READ: AHS announces community lab transition from APL to DynaLIFE

Since August 3, officials say that APL has provided thousands of additional weekly community lab appointments within their hospital lab, including over 700 in Calgary, and hired more staff to significantly reduce wait times.

LaGrange says a mutual agreement in principle, also known as a Memorandum of Understanding, has been reached with ownership of DynaLIFE to transfer staff, equipment and property in all regions of the province to APL. She confirmed there would be no job losses and that work will be completed in phases, with the full transition expected to be completed by December 2023.

They confirm Albertans will continue to get their lab testing done at the same locations during this transition and additional appointments will continue to be added as planned.

“Lab services are crucial in the diagnosis and treatment of Albertans. It is wholly unacceptable that Albertans had to face long waits and delays to get simple blood work done. I’ve been clear that improving our health care system is a top priority for our government and fixing these delays is one more step we’re taking to ensure Albertans can access the health care they need, when and where they need it, now and into the future,” said Premier Danielle Smith in a statement.

Minister LaGrange’s mandate letter from the Premier included direction to resolve unacceptable lab services delays so Albertans could access timely lab services across the province.

READ: Health Minister LaGrange receives long list of objectives from Premier Smith

“Our focus is on patients and ensuring the safety, accessibility and stability of lab services. We understand and appreciate the challenges that some Albertans have faced with lab services in recent months and we are dedicated to addressing these concerns. We thank all DynaLIFE team members for their continued commitment. We respect their insight and will work closely with them to incorporate feedback and support their transition to Alberta Precision Laboratories,” said Mauro Chies, AHS President and Chief Executive Officer.

Luanne Metz, Alberta NDP Critic for Health (Emergency & Surgical Care), calls the UCP decision a, “dangerous mismanagement of lab services for Albertans.”

“Danielle Smith’s incompetent handling of lab services has put Albertans in danger. I am constantly hearing from patients and frontline healthcare workers about extreme delays, and dangerous errors in lab work performed by DynaLife,” she said in a statement.

“DynaLife is the provider selected by the UCP after they destroyed Alberta’s publicly owned lab system in 2019 and embarked on a three-year dedicated drive to privatize its crucial work. Now that public lab has to bail out DynaLife. This is the UCP’s reckless experiment in privatization – all the money goes to a private operator, and all the risk lands on Alberta taxpayers and Alberta families.”

She claims that an NDP government would have already had a stable and efficient public lab system in operation today rather than a series of crises.

Executive Director of Friends of Medicare, Chris Gallaway, said their organization has always been vocally against the transition to DynaLIFE and is calling on the government to take accountability for, “their central role in disrupting Albertans’ access to this essential health care service.”

“After months of DynaLIFE failing to deliver on community lab services, leaving Albertans waiting weeks to access basic lab work, the situation has gotten so bad that the provincial government has finally had to admit their privatization scheme is a complete failure,” he said in a statement. “This is the classic story of privatization in health care: when the for-profit company fails to deliver, the public system is left holding the bag and has to pick up the pieces.”

Gallaway questioned why there were no details or cost relating to the transition plan from DynaLIFE back to APL. He also claimed that Alberta’s medical laboratories have been a frequent target for privatization.

LaGrange said they are still in negotiations regarding costs but will release the information once available for transparency. She said she will be addressing procurement, contracting, salary and pension details, future long-term solutions and reviewing processes for lab service delivery in the province.

The government states all existing appointments and lab services will continue to be provided as scheduled and increased capacity will be added in the immediate future. Albertans can continue to book their lab appointments online or by calling 1-877-702-4486.